Stay on target

This weekend is the birthday of a Batman Family favorite, Barbara Gordon! With her movie debut coming ever closer, I’d like to talk about her history, identifies, and future.

Some fans might not realize that Barbara Gordon was actually created for TV similar to Harley Quinn in Batman: The Animated Series. She was created by William Dozier, Julie Schwartz, and Carmine Infantino for the live action Batman series with Adam West at the request of producers and played by actress Yvonne Craig. She premiered in Detective Comics #359 in 1967 by Gardner Fox and Batgirl co-creator Carmine Infantino.

Daughter of Commissioner Gordon, Barbara had unique insight and access to help fight crime and assist Batman. Similar to Supergirl (whose birthday was yesterday), Batgirl was bounced around different books over the years and never quite launched into her own title. Also similar to Supergirl, by the 80’s DC Comics decided the only thing they could do with Barbara is have her be attacked, though this time not lethally.

In the infamous story The Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland, Barbara is shot by The Joker and left paralyzed. Rather than just writing off the character, John Ostrander, Kim Yale, and Luke McDonnell reintroduced Barbara in 1989 as Oracle in Suicide Squad #23. Now in a wheelchair, Barbara’s role shifted to being a watcher and master strategist as one of the most important supporting characters in DC Comics.

In 2011, the New 52 reintroduced Barbara as Batgirl having her recover from her wounds in The Killing Joke which is how she remains today. Though many fans are thrilled to have the old Barbara back, many others were sad to see Oracle go and lose such an important disabled icon in comics. Both are perfectly understandable positions to hold.

So celebrate Barbara Gordon today! Watch some Batman 66, pick up some great comics by people like John Ostrander and Gail Simone, or the current Batgirl Rebirth trade!